Remember
by BrokenQuill11
Summary: "Any final words, prisoner?" He asked coldly. If anything, the man's smirk grew. "Just the one: Remember." One-shot.


AN: A fan fiction written in the hopes of kicking jet-lags ass!

Harry Potter was content. There was really no other way to describe him. He had everything that he wanted in life. A wife that he loved, kids, a good job. Everything. Really.

The Head Auror walked through the front door of his relatively modest home and immediately saw his wife. She grinned the grin that never ceased to make his heart sputter. She walked over towards him and kissed him lightly on the lips, causing his grin to widen.

"Have a good day at work?"

Harry nodded, all but collapsing onto the couch. Harry had been tracking the movements of a budding Dark Lord over the last couple of months, having caught him just earlier this week. Work of course had been a nightmare with all the paperwork and such that needed to be done. Then of course the raving lunatic had decided to try to escape from the Aurors in transit to Azkaban earlier that evening causing quite the scuffle, but Harry had been able to subdue him. As the Aurors made to take him away, the man had started screaming. "I will tear your perfect little world out from under you Potter! Brick by brick, do you hear me, Potter!"

Harry opted for easy answer, shrugging and smiling. "Oh it was fine, nothing I couldn't handle."

Ginny snorted and sat on his lap, kissing him again. "There is very little that the great Harry Potter can't handle." Harry was about to object, but Ginny continued. "We got a letter from Lily today."

Harry's eyes lit up as he took the letter from his wife. Lily wasn't sending them owls as often as she had in past years, claiming that she was too old to rely on her parents to solve all of her problems. Harry knew it was a mistake to sign his third-year daughter's Hogsmeade permission slip without blackmail first.

The letter actually said very little, not that it mattered much to Harry; his little girl was talking to him again!

Harry summoned some parchment and a quill to pencil out his reply when his wife put a hand on his arm, stopping him. She slowly brought their faces closer together before whispering in his ear huskily. "I'm quite sure that can wait until tomorrow, you've been staying out late at work recently and I've gotten awfully lonely."

Harry had a difficult time arguing with that. Sometimes, it was good to be Harry Potter.

HP~

Harry watched quietly, a blank expression on his face, from his position in the stands at the trial for one Dark Lord Tyler Rosier. He hadn't been easy to track down and nor had he gone down quietly. When all was said and done, Mr. Rosier accounted for 19 wizarding deaths, including two Aurors who died during his capture, 97 muggles dead, untold millions in property damage, as well as, perhaps most unforgivable, releasing werewolf's into a magical orphanage, causing 23 magicals to be infected.

Yes, there was a special place in hell for the kinds of things that he did. Perhaps he wasn't quite as successful as Lord Voldemort or Grindlewald, but he was bloody successful enough!

The Wizenmagot made its decision: The Dementor's Kiss, something that hadn't been implemented since Voldemort and his Death Eaters had been defeated. The kiss was to be given exactly one week from today.

Harry nodded, not at all bothered by the verdict and brought the bastard to his special ministry magical suppression cell, where he would spend the rest of his days before his death.

The days passed slowly, and finally, it was time for the execution, Harry led the prisoner towards the Department of Mysteries, where his sentence would be carried out. The group entered the chamber containing the Veil. Everyone could see the dementor waiting hungrily on the far side of the room.

The precession stopped as Harry turned towards the still smirking man wearing magic suppressing cuffs.

Harry felt the rage at the proud, smirking monster in front of him, but pushed it aside with practiced patience. "Any final words, prisoner?" He asked coldly.

If anything, the man's smirk grew. "Just the one: _Remember._ " With that, a soft silver light emitted from the man's mouth, and rocketed into Harry before he could react. He was smashed backwards several yards before coming to a halt, ears ringing and aware of nothing besides his own breathing.

After a moment he realized that someone was saying his name. He opened his eyes and saw his best friend Ron shouting at him with a stricken, worried expression on his face.

Harry ground his teeth and brought himself up to a sitting position. He became aware of another sound that permeated the otherwise silent room: laughter.

The prisoner was laughing his head off, and didn't seem to be stopping anytime soon. Harry gritted his teeth against the sound and stood of his own power, and shrugged off the hands of his friends and other ministry employees, stating that he was alright.

He turned and glared at the laughing lunatic before him. He turned towards the dementor's handler. "End the bastard."

The laughter stopped.

HP~

Harry insisted he was fine, but no matter how he argued, Ron and his subordinates refused to take no for an answer. The traitors.

So, instead of being home, with his lovely wife eating dinner and laughing, he was sitting on a white bed in a sterile white room, with an old man waving his wand in increasingly erratic patterns near his person.

Ron was waiting off the side, wringing his hands nervously as the medi-wizard finally stopped. There were several pregnant moments of silence as no one said anything.

"Well?" said Ron impatiently, "What did the bastard do to Harry."

The medi-wizard hesitated for a moment longer before responding slowly. "As near as I can tell? Nothing."

"WHAT!" Harry held his silence as Ron sputtered in disbelief.

Harry looked the doctor right in the eye, silently urging him to continue.

"Nothing harmful, at any rate," he obliged.

They sat in silence a moment longer before the silence was once again broken by Ron. "That's bloody great! We should go out to dinner to celebrate."

Harry eyed the medi-wizard, who eventually sighed, "While there doesn't appear to be any negative effects caused from your encounter today, I want you to return immediately if you feel any differently, but you should be free to go.

Finally, a relieved grin appeared on Harry's face. "Thank Merlin! Imagine me having to tell the wife and kids."

Ron cheered and Harry found himself at a pub table with Ron, Hermione, and his wife sitting around it, laughing and drinking.

Harry was perhaps just a bit quieter than he usually was. He tried to be social and laugh with them, but something was bugging him. It had started as a distant feeling, easily brushed off and ignored, but it had steadily been working its way into him, growing more and more prominent until it felt like what it was just on the tip of his tongue, just outside of memory, and it bothered him.

Eventually Harry and his friends said their goodbyes and Harry returned home with his am wrapped securely around Ginny. They found themselves in bed quickly but were both too exhausted to do anything other than sleep that night, and sleep Harry did.

HP~

Harry found himself unable to sleep some nights later. What he was missing remained stubbornly out of reach, just on the edge of conscious thought.

Harry glanced at his peacefully sleeping wife when it hit. Absolute loathing and disgust washed over him in waves and he had to fight back the panicked urge to kill her where she lay. He felt like a cornered animal, terrified and backed into a corner looking for any possible way of escape. Harry forced the feelings down, breathing heavily.

Ginny stirred. "Feeling alright, love?"

Harry resisted the urge to flinch when she called him 'love.' "Ya. I'm alright, just a nightmare," he lied.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Although she offered, her eyes were already beginning to close as she fell back into her sleeping pose.

Harry forced a smile. "I'll be fine." Ginny murmured in response, and turned away from Harry, going back to sleep.

Inside, Harry was panicking. What the fuck was that!?

HP~

Harry had the weekend off for the first time in what seemed like forever. Ginny was at a book club meeting and Ron had taken Hermione to the cinema; well, more forcefully carried her there.

That left Harry alone for the first time since the attack two weeks prior, which suited him just fine.

Harry hadn't told a soul about the odd feeling and the trapped, terrified, and oftentimes hostile emotions he felt occasionally around his wife. He didn't really know why, he had thought about telling people, getting help, but it had seemed incredibly important that he didn't, so he hadn't.

Harry really, really needed to think. He decided to head to Hogsmeade for the day. He apparated walked around the entirely wizard town. It was, in fact a Hogsmeade weekend which meant that he had the added bonus of seeing his children.

He walked into the already crowded Three Broomsticks and found a seat at the bar and ordered a butterbeer, chatting with Rosmerta. He glanced around and found his children seated at three different tables around the inn, talking to their respective friends.

He made a point of meeting his sons' eyes, giving each of them winks and small smile as their eyes widened. It took him a bit longer to catch Lily's eye, but when he did he conjured a piece of parchment and shook it pointedly, making her pinken in shame.

Deciding that his fatherly duties had been satisfied for the day, he walked outside, deciding to walk to the Shrieking Shack on a whim.

He stopped under a large tree close to the shack and looked up. He frowned, that seemed oddly familiar...

Harry gasped, staggering from the onslaught of memories that assaulted him. He clutched the tree for support and he . . .

He _remembered_.

HP~

 _A sixteen-year-old Harry wandered under the trees leading up towards the Shrieking Shack._

 _Ron and Hermione wanted to be alone, he could tell, they were just too polite to tell him so, so he had excused himself so that they could enjoy each other's company._

 _Harry didn't mind being alone._

 _"Hi, Harry."_

 _Harry turned towards the voice and saw a smiling Ginny Weasley walking towards him, also alone._

 _Harry grinned. "Enjoying the solitude as well?"_

 _Ginny shook her head. "No, I was looking for you actually."_

 _Harry frowned slightly in concentration. Had he forgotten something? "Oh?"_

 _"Yes." Ginny cast a silent full-body-bind curse at Harry, causing him to fall flat on his back under a tree, gaze locked in the canopy._

 _What the_ _hell_ _was going on here?! He glared at Ginny as she came into view, showing that this was not in fact funny and that he wanted to be released._

 _As if reading his mind Ginny responded. "Oh this isn't a game Harry. This is about us getting what we deserve."_

 _Harry was becoming more and more worried by the second. He tried to break the curse, but could barely twitch a finger._

 _Ginny noticed his concentration. "Oh, no, no, Harry; can't have any of that."_

 _She recast the body bind, this time she pronunciated the words carefully. This time, the curse held strong, forcing him into complete stillness._

 _A feeling of dread had begun to take hold within him and was only increased by Ginny's sweet smile. "You taught me how to do that remember?" She looked lost in fond memories for a moment before shaking her head and getting back to whatever it was that she was doing to him._

 _Was she imperiused? Polyjuice maybe? Damn it, he didn't know!_

 _Ginny could see his rising panic and cooed, "Don't worry Harry, I'm just doing what's best for us."_

 _She pulled out a small vial. "This, Harry, is Amortentia, the most powerful love potion in existence. I tried so hard to make you notice me, but I was only ever Ron's little sister to you," she said bitterly. "You couldn't possibly look at me differently, so I had to take matters into my own hands."_

 _She kneeled by Harry's head, unstopping the bottle. Harry's panic had increased ten-fold. No. No! He couldn't do this again! He couldn't be a prisoner again! He couldn't be used again. Harry felt like a cornered animal, panic and terror_ _flooded through_ _him as he struggled with everything he had against the curse. His body shuddered._

 _Ginny frowned worriedly, forcing the potion into Harry's mouth, holding his nose so that it was swallow or die. Eventually, lack of oxygen forced him to swallow. The potion did its work quickly, spreading throughout his bloodstream. He stopped struggling. He looked up at the most beautiful woman in the world, more beautiful than any veela, framed by a canopy of leaves._

 _At the look of naked adoration on his face, Ginny smiled. "Thank you Harry, this is all I've ever wanted."_

 _"Obliviate."_

HP~

Harry sagged against the tree, clutching his head while his breaths came out in ragged gasps.

Ginny, she wouldn't do that- _but she did_. She was his wife! And he loved her! _The potion made you love her._

He tried to remember more, he needed more!

So he did.

HP~

 _Harry was looking at the Christmas tree, he had just finished setting it up. It was Rose and Albus' first Christmas and Harry wanted it to be special._

 _Harry looked at the leaves. Something seemed off, but he couldn't tell what._

 _He heard a voice from behind him. "Alright, Harry?"_

 _Harry whipped around, his first impulse to run as far and fast away as he could. He backed up into the Christmas tree, causing it to fall over with a huge crash._

 _"Harry!" Ginny started to rush towards him._

 _"Stay away from me," Harry hissed._

 _Ginny stopped, a look of shock on her face. "Harry? Harry it's okay," she soothed, "I'm your wife, remember? I love you very much."_

 _Harry was still terrified, but she was his wife, and he trusted her._

 _He allowed her to approach as she cooed to him with calming words. She pulled out a potion vial, which caused him to flinch._

 _She paused, but continued determinedly. "Harry, this potion is going to make you better, okay? Don't you trust me?"_

 _Harry hesitated. He took the vial from her, downing it in one go. Relief flushed through him as well as a wave of affection for his wife._

 _Ginny smiled. "There Harry, all better. Obliviate."_

HP~

There were maybe another half-doesn't similar incidents that had happened over the course of the last 25 years, but Ginny had always managed to drag him back before he could remember. There was one as recent as this year even.

Words of a mad man came back to him in a rush. _I will tear your perfect little world out from under you, Potter! Brick by brick, do you hear me, Potter! Just the one: Remember. Laughter._

He was right.

Harry felt sick and emptied his stomach on the trail next to him. Harry need to get away. He needed. To get. Away.

He stood abruptly from where he had fallen to his knees and staggered slightly. He took a deep breath and apparated.

HP~

Ginny was beginning to worry about her husband. Nobody's seen him in the past three days! He hadn't showed up to work the past two days, and Ginny was growing frantic.

Had he remembered? She banished the thought immediately as ridiculous. She had fed him an even larger dose than normal after his last incident which had only been two months ago. The incidents had never been so close previously.

So if he hadn't remembered, then where was he?

Ginny was growing more and more angry and began to throw things at the walls in her anger.

Harry's favorite lamp, shattered. The chair that Harry always claimed by the fire, charred. The picture of Harry on the wall, obliterated.

By the time she was done, the house was a wreck and Ginny was breathing heavily. She looked around the room in satisfaction before beginning the tedious process of fixing everything just as she always did when she lost her temper. If there was one thing that she had learned over the years, it was that destroying things was always so much more fun than fixing them.

HP~

Kingsley was rather stressed. His Head Auror had been missing for the last five days and said Auror's wife and friends were breathing down his neck to find him.

Kingsley sighed, sometimes being the Minister of Magic wasn't all that it was cracked up to be.

He opened the door to his private office and was shocked to find someone sitting at the chair before his desk. It was supposed to be impossible for anyone to get in here without his permission, and he had requested solitude. What shocked him even more was the identity of the person in his office. "Harry."

Harry jumped slightly and tore his gaze from where it had been resting on his shoes.

To say Harry didn't look good may have been the understatement of the year. His clothes were disgusting and looked like they hadn't been changed in days, his normally untamable hair lay plastered to his head and face and looked sickly; he looked like he hadn't slept in weeks. But what was the worst part were his eyes, usually full of life and energy and emotion were dead. Completely dead.

"Harry," said Kingsley slowly, "what happened?"

Harry opened his mouth a few times as if trying to form words, by didn't know how. Eventually . . . "I don't know where to begin."

"I've found, that it is always best to start at the beginning."

So, Harry told his tale, starting with the young dark lord and ending with him discovering the truth. Kingsley was speechless, and appalled.

They both sat in silence for several minutes before Kingsley finally breached the silence. "What do you want to do?"

Harry shrugged helplessly, and chuckled without humor. "What can I do?"

Kingsley had never seen Harry so beaten, not even after Sirius had died. His heart went out to his young friend, but he kept his calm. "Are we sure that Rosier didn't do something to your head? Make you remember something that didn't happen?"

Harry nodded dully. "That was the first thing I checked. Bought a diagnostic potion and found traces of the Amortentia as well as several compulsion charms of various degrees. Hired a professional who confirmed the blocks had been in place."

Kingsley nodded, letting his head sink into his hands. What could they do? Harry had lost twenty-five years of his life.

"You know, I never even wanted to become an Auror."

Kingsley's head snapped up at this, eyes wide in shock.

Harry nodded at his obvious shock. "I'd seen so much death. I didn't want to be a part of the war any longer. I wanted to travel the world." He smiled faintly. "How naive of me to think I ever had a choice."

They drifted into silence again before Harry began to speak again. "I don't want anyone to know."

Kingsley was shocked into silence once again, and before he could speak, Harry continued on hurriedly. "It's not that I want to be with her or even look at her ever again." At this he stood and started pacing in agitation, the first real signs of life he'd shown since Kingsley had walked into the office. "I want out of the damned marriage and I want to make sure that she pays for what she did, that she can never get near the children again, but I don't think I could deal with the pity. Awe is bad enough, but pity?"

Harry collapsed back into the chair with his head in his hands. Kingsley took a moment to collect himself before coming up with a plan of action. "I'll contact the goblins immediately and schedule a meeting between for you. We'll make sure that we get you your restraining orders and that you retain full custody of the kids. Unfortunately," Kingsley grimaced, "it isn't against the law to use love potions, but we'll make sure that she touches none of your family's money ever again."

Harry nodded. Head still bowed.

Kingsley felt a rush of absolute loathing for the witch that had done this to his friend. "Your life isn't over Harry," he said, far sharper than he had intended, causing Harry's head to snap up, "you will survive this."

Harry smiled ever so slightly at this and Kingsley felt a glimmer of hope because, despite that fact that it was barely there, it was _real_. "You always did have a ridiculous amount of faith in me." Kingsley held his silence as Harry nodded, straightening slightly, looking Kingsley in the eyes for the first time, almost defiantly. "Set up the meetings please. And thank you Kingsley."

Kingsley smiled and all but jumped out of his seat. Of course, he didn't _quite_ go that far. He was the Minister after all.

HP~

After Harry had gone to his hotel room in muggle London and showered at Kingsley's . . . request, he had gone through a series of meetings with Gringotts' managers and solicitors. The results had been positive and he had dissolved his marriage and gotten full custody of the children as well as blocked Ginny from all of his families' vaults. Whatever you say about ancient pureblood laws, sometimes they could be damn _convenient_.

He had immediately traveled to Hogwarts to prevent Ginny, or any member of the Weasley family for the time being, from seeing or removing his children from the school. Minerva was understandably shocked and dismayed about news of the divorce, but, to his relief, made no inquiries as to why.

Harry was feeling better, safer. The terror and panic had receded to manageable levels when he entered the main chamber of the ministry. He was immediately swarmed with reporters who had gotten wind of his absence in recent days and he was swamped with questions regarding his disappearance.

Harry waited patiently until the noise had settled to a dull roar. He could see Ron and Hermione trying to make their way towards him through the crowd of reports, photographers, and ministry employees. He decided to make this quick.

"I have decided," he said, causing all the reporters settle into a hush and his friends to pause, "that I will be resigning from my position as Head Auror." The crowd of reporters immediately erupted into frenzied shouts and roars. Harry waited for them to settle down. "I have decided to resign because, while I have enjoyed my time immensely in the Auror's Corpse, it was never my intention to forever work in the DMLE." This caused Ron and Hermione to gape at him in shock. "Thank you for your time."

With that, Harry swept away from the crowd of roaring reporters and photographers out for blood, and went immediately to his office in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. With a quick flick of his wand he had everything in his office packed and ready to go besides a photo of his ex-wife which he left sitting on the desk untouched. He disapperated before Ron or Hermione could track him down, leaving only an empty desk save for one picture.

HP~

Ginny was pissed. What was that idiot thinking! She wanted him to continue to be Head Auror and eventually take the next step to Minister of Magic, making her one of the wealthiest and most powerful women in the world. But he had mucked it all up in a single day!

No matter, the situation was still salvageable, if she could just _find_ him. She huffed and entered Gringotts, thinking that she could make herself feel better by spending lots of Harry's money.

However, upon entering the bank, she had been informed, most rudely she may add, that her key wasn't working, much to her embarrassment. So she had to leave, never mind how many times she told them exactly who she was.

So instead, she decided to head home and soak in her luxury bath for a few hours. After the day she had, she deserved it.

She walking up the pathway leading to their home, if you call it a home, it was barely more than a hovel; that was another thing that was going to change soon. She wanted a manor for crying out loud! Was that so much to ask for? Anyway, she was walking down the path when suddenly she found herself returning to the street. She frowned. She hadn't turned around at any point. She tried again and again to get back to her house but no matter what she did, she always ended up back at the street.

HP~

Harry happily sat in the sun outside of Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor enjoying the sunlight and the ice cream. Harry felt . . . better. There was really no two ways about it. The panic and terror had settled and were becoming less and less prominent as time went on; pretty soon, he was sure that he would be completely fine. Harry also felt, for the first time in his life, _free_. Absolutely free. No obligations to anyone besides his children. No schedules. No deadlines. No insane women force-feeding him potions. Ya, life was good. Oh he wasn't healed. Not by a long shot, really. How could he be? He had found out not a week ago that his last twenty years had been stolen from him. He felt _dirty._ Contaminated. But he was getting better. After all, his life could really only go up from here.

Harry's morning took a turn for the worse when he noticed a shock of red hair followed closely by a bushy brunette and a tall ginger. Harry's expression soured at the first.

Ginny _Weasley_ stalked up to him and immediately began to scream. The usual of course. "What do you think you were doing?" "How could you be so stupid!?" Blah Blah Blah. He wasn't really paying attention; she really wasn't worth the effort.

Once she finished with her impromptu rant, she looked at him expectantly. Harry looked back, unflinching. "Ya," he drawled, channeling his inner Draco . . . yuck, "I didn't listen to a word you said. What do you want exactly?"

Ginny glared at him and Ron and Hermione looked confused. "I said," Ginny started through gritted teeth, "that you need to go to the Ministry and tell them that you have changed your mind about quitting the DMLE. They should give you your position back." She finished with a satisfied nod as if the problem was settled.

Harry felt rage building in him at the base of his stomach, but held it at bay and said in a level voice, "I don't _have_ to do anything, and I don't particularly care to join the DMLE again." He looked away from her as if disinterested and returned to his ice cream.

Ginny's head snapped in his direction and her eyes widened in shock and anger. "Harry," Ginny growled in a low, dangerous voice that had Ron and Hermione taking a couple of steps back, "as your wife, I'm telling you that that would be a bad idea."

Harry looked deeply unimpressed. "As my _ex_ -wife, your opinion means less than nothing to me." At their comical expressions, Harry feigned confusion. "Oh? You didn't hear? Yes, well yesterday I was feeling a bit bored so I popped in at Gringotts and decided to dissolve our marriage contract." Hermione gasped and, for the first time since he had married her, Ginny was speechless. Harry nodded. "Oh yes, banned her from my vaults and properties, got full custody of the children. The whole shebang." Harry glanced at his fingernails as if disinterested in the conversation. "Well, things to see, people to do. Toodles." Harry stood and began walking away, but a voice caused him to pause.

"Harry wait." Harry turned around to see Ginny obviously trying to compose herself. "Is this about me and Michael? Because I swear that was a one-time thing and that I would never do it agai-"

"Hmm, you were cheating on me as well. How entirely you. But no Gin Gin, that's not why I'm dropping you."

Ginny was flushed. "Then _why_?" She was getting angry. That famous Weasley temper.

Harry smiled sweetly. " _Freedom is never given; it is won.'_ "Harry quoted, before trailing off at Ginny's look of dawning comprehension and horror and Ron and Hermione's confusion. "Oh yes Gin Gin," said Harry quietly, "I. Remember. _Everything_."

"Harry please," she pleaded, "I only wanted what was best for us-"

" _Bollocks,"_ he snarled before smiling again, showing far too many teeth for it to be friendly. "No Ginny, you did all of this for you. This sick little fantasy of yours ends _today_. You brought the children into this and for that, even more than what you did to me, I will never forgive you for." Harry nodded, sealing the confession. "I hope you find someone you deserve, Ginny. Who knows, maybe you can resurrect old Voldie for you. You'd deserve each other."

He turned again, leaving the stunned trio behind. Harry had a letter to write; he had seen the reporter and seen the photographs being taken. It was better that his children heard from him instead of finding out in the _Prophet_. Harry sighed and rubbed his eyes before apparating back to his home, sealing to wards to all visitors.

HP~

Albus sighed, throwing down his quill. He wasn't going to get any work done, especially with Fred and James putting on a performance in the middle of the common room. Albus felt a grin making its way upon his face he watched them for a few minutes before a tapping drew his attention to the window where a Snowy Owl was hovering just outside.

"Hedwig!" Albus quickly opened the window. He had been on edge since the _Prophet_ started reporting that his father was missing. He unbound the letter from her. As soon as he had finished, she flew out the window. Albus frowned. That was strange, she usually waited for a reply. He shrugged and returned to the letter. Nobody else had noticed the owl, all were still too focused upon Fred and James. Albus noticed some writing on the outside of the envelope.

 _Whichever one of you gets this letter, get the others with you before you open it, it's for all of you._

 _Dad_

Albus grinned. He was okay! Albus quickly went to collect James. "James!" James turned towards the sound of his brother's voice with a slight frown. Albus lifted the envelope. "From Dad."

James' expression brightened immediately. He turned back towards the crowd. "Sorry guys, early closing tonight." There were some groans, but James ignored them and joined Albus, raising a questioning eyebrow. Albus handed him the letter and led him to where Lily was sitting in a 'corner' of the circular room.

Lily looked up at their approach. "Letter from Dad," Albus supplied. Lily dropped her quill, nodding and making room for her brothers on the small couch. It was a tight fit, but they all managed to squeeze on.

James glanced around before opening the letter.

 _To James, Lily, and Albus_

 _Hi guys, I hope school's going well. I know that you've probably been worrying about my absence, or, at least I hope so. Anyway, I wanted to let you know that I'm doing, well, not good, but I'm getting better._

 _I needed to talk to all of you before the_ Prophet _comes out tomorrow as what I'm telling you now will undoubtedly be in the news tomorrow._

 _Your mother and I split up. We're divorced as of yesterday. I imagine you're all shocked and want us to work through whatever it is that are problem was, but that's not going to happen. She- She. I can't. I just- I can't talk about it right now. I'm sorry at how rushed and uninformative this seems but I needed to tell you before the_ Prophet _did as I said earlier._

 _Ginny is no longer allowed to contact you while you are at Hogwarts, be it in person or letter. I'm sorry that I have to tell you this way, but I had little choice._

 _No matter what happens I want you to know that I love you and that I will never stop loving you. You are_ my _children and always will be._

 _Love, Dad_

The rest of the night passed in a bit of a blur for Albus as he and his siblings deflected questions from their friends and cousins before, eventually the common room emptied leaving their friends and cousins confused and worried.

It was because that he didn't trust them, because he did. But he said nothing, because, because if he said anything then that made it real. None of the siblings spoke all night long, and none slept. None of them tried to sleep.

Finally, at 7:00 as the early risers began to get up, giving them odd looks, James cleared his throat. "I reckon we should get down to breakfast, see what's being said in the _Prophet_." Lily and Albus nodded before they all rose and walked down to the Gryffindor table for breakfast. James sat up straight, looking straight ahead. Lily fiddled with her hands, sitting in between the two boys and Albus nibbled at some toast half-heartedly.

At about 7:30 his cousin Rose entered the Great Hall and marched right up to them. "Albus, this is getting ridiculous, I demand to know what is going on right-" she cut of as Albus glanced towards the windows of the Great Hall where owls were just beginning to stream in.

Albus swallowed, his throat suddenly very dry. He nodded towards the bird carrying his subscription of the _Daily Prophet_. "You'll find out soon enough."

Albus paid the bird with slightly shaky hands and took the paper and glanced at the cover. He heard gasping and whispering all around him, the loudest coming from his cousin just beside him. The picture on the cover showed his father looking very dignified and in control turning away from then walking away from his distraught looking mother. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again and reading the article.

 _Golden Couple Finished!_

 _By Kelly Gardner_

 _A confrontation took place yesterday afternoon in front of_ Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor _between the recently estranged 'Golden Couple' of Ginny Weasley and the famous Harry Potter._

 _You heard right. I happened to be in the area when the confrontation began taking place and I immediately sent word to my photographer to get here as quickly as he could before I settled in to watch the show. Mr. Potter had been eating an ice cream at the parlor when the former Mrs. Potter as well as Hermione Granger-Weasley, Head of the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and her husband, Auror Ronald Weasley arrived._

 _Ms. Weasley began screaming about how Mr. Potter was ruining everything and demanded that he return to the ministry at once and ask for his job back. Mr. Potter then stated: "As my ex-wife, your opinion means less than nothing to me." He told her that he had dissolved their marriage the previous day and had begun to leave when his ex-wife begged him to reconsider saying: "Is this about me and Michael? Because I swear that was a one-time thing and that I would never do it agai-". Here Mr. Potter claimed that while he was unsurprised that she had been cheating on her, it wasn't why he had dissolved the contract. Well if what Ms. Weasley did to Mr. Potter made him wave off cheating like it was nothing, this reporter wanted nothing more than to find out what the real reason was._

 _Unfortunately, Mr. Potter began speaking quietly and what this reporter_ was _able to hear, none of it made any sense. However, Ms. Weasley paled visibly and stated:_ _"I only wanted what was best for us" to which Mr. Potter replied with contempt and anger. While we don't know exactly what caused the falling out, Mr. Potter did state that Ms. Weasley's_ _"sick little fantasy ends today."_ _Mr. Potter then went on to say: "You brought the children into this and for that, even more than what you did to me, I will never forgive you for."_

 _Mr. Potter left the scene immediately after, which is when the picture on the front cover was taken and apparated shortly thereafter._

 _Ms. Weasley Apprehended at Gringotts pg. 2_

 _Ms. Weasley Secretly Involved with Dark Lord Voldemort? pg. 3_

 _Recount of Mr. Potter's achievements as Head Auror pg. 5_

 _Interview with Goblins confirms dissolving of Contract between Mr. Potter and Ms. Weasley pg. 7_

The Potters stared at the article in silence. He heard Rose distantly, saying that she was sorry and that everything would work out. Albus licked his chapped lips before turning to page two.

 _Ms. Weasley Apprehended as Gringotts_

 _By Theodore Banks_

 _Shortly after her confrontation with Mr. Potter near_ Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, _Ms. Weasley was apprehended attempting to break into the vaults owned by Mr. Potter at_ Gringotts Bank _. Ms. Weasley reportedly demanded to be allowed access to the vaults, and when she was refused, she drew her wand on the teller and hit him with a blasting curse, sending him flying into the back wall of the bank._

 _While the teller received extensive injuries to his upper body, healers report that he will make a full recovery._

 _Ms. Weasley then proceeded to run further into the bank followed by several hit-wizards employed by the goblin owned bank. She reportedly screamed: "He can't do this!" and "This is mine! Mine!"_

 _Ms. Weasley was eventually subdued and apprehended just before she was able to make it to the cart leading to the deeper parts of the goblin owned bank where Mr. Potter's vaults are located._

 _The minimum sentence for attacking a goblin as well as attempting to break into Gringotts is a four years in Azkaban for Ms. Weasley and a fine of 1500 galleons._

 _The goblin nation is in uproar regarding this attack on their bank . . ._

Albus stopped reading at the sounds of sobbing beside him and he turned to see his younger sister in tears. He exchanged glances with James who nodded and began to help Lily out of the Great Hall. Albus searched for the Headmistress' eyes before shaking his head indicating they wouldn't be in class today. She nodded with a look of sympathy. Albus hurried to catch up with his siblings.

"Hey Lily it's alright," he soothed, "We'll be alright." Lily didn't look like she believed him and Albus really couldn't blame her. He wasn't sure he believed himself either.

HP~

Harry sat in a small rented room in the Three Broomsticks the next day sitting at a table across from his three children. Harry fidgeted with his glasses, trying to find the best way to start this conversation.

"Talk." Harry looked up at the slightly wavering statement to meet the tearful eyes of his youngest. Harry opened his mouth, but the feeling of panic made him stop. He couldn't! He couldn't talk about it again! What would they think of him? Weak. _Pathetic-STOP._ His children needed him to be strong. He took a deep breath and started at the beginning and didn't stop until he finished by telling them about writing the letter last night.

"Oh, Daddy!" Harry caught the flying redhead and held her tightly as she sobbed into his chest. He took a deep breath and looked at his sons, meeting their eyes seeing shock and sadness and . . . fear. They were afraid. Of him? No, they were afraid that he wouldn't want them.

He met their eyes. "This doesn't change anything about how I feel about any of you. I love you. And you. Are. Mine." He said this forcefully and caused their eyes to widen before they too joined the hug.

Things weren't fixed, not by a long shot. But Harry allowed himself a moment of hope that one day, they could be okay again. Harry pulled his children in even tighter and, for the first time since his life ended a week ago, allowed the tears to fall.

Fin.


End file.
